Former Detroiter's new book looks at Roger Ailes, outspoken head of Fox News

March 24, 2013

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Author Zev Chafets

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When author Zev Chafets started working on "Roger Ailes: Off Camera," he had a frank conversation with the mega-successful creator and CEO of Fox News.

"I said to him, 'Look, I'm relatively not stupid, but I have no doubt you're much smarter than I am. So I want to play this with you with the cards face up. I'm going to be straight with you. I'm going to establish the ground rules going in and I'm not going to surprise you. And I hope that you're not going to surprise me,' " says Chafets, author of the controversial 1990 book "Devil's Night and Other True Tales of Detroit," during a recent interview.

"And that's the way we played it. It was clear to him that he did not have editorial control over the book. It was clear to him that I was going to write what I saw."

The new book, which hit stores last week, has been getting attention, largely thanks to the love-it-or-hate-it nature of Fox News and the gossipy morsels posted in early March on the Vanity Fair website. A flurry of online items noted that Ailes called President Barack Obama "lazy," Vice President Joe Biden "dumb as an ashtray" and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich "a sore loser," among other things.

But Chafets, who had Ailes' cooperation and was granted access to his family, friends and Fox News colleagues, puts his cards face up for readers, too. He states in the introduction that this book isn't a formal biography. Rather, he writes, "It is a record of almost a year spent watching Roger Ailes in action."

Tackling a subject who, depending on your perspective, has either brought fairness and balance to cable news or built a veritable mouthpiece for the GOP, wasn't daunting to Chafets, who's no stranger to controversy.

Born and raised in Pontiac, Chafets moved to Israel more than four decades ago and worked for the Israeli government. He became an author and journalist and has written many books, fiction and nonfiction, including 2010's "Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One." He's a former New York Daily News columnist and a contributor to the New York Times Magazine who divides his time between New York and Tel Aviv.

But in his hometown, Chafets is best known for "Devil's Night," which drew the ire of city leaders and local residents for its description of the Motor City as America's first Third World city.

Remembering the uproar the book stirred here, the University of Michigan graduate says critics of "Devil's Night," including then-Mayor Coleman Young, didn't read its contents. He recounts a phone call to Young in the hospital shortly before the Detroit legend's death. They had a friendly conversation, during which the outspoken politician told him, "Zev, I never even read that (profanity)."

"Some of the things I observed 25 years ago are, I think, still observable," says Chafets, who says Detroit is a great city that he regards with enormous affection. "The trends were very clear back then. It wasn't surprising that the city has gotten smaller."

With his new book, Chafets says the most surprising thing he discovered about Ailes was the gap between how he is perceived and what he's really like. The combative media executive can be a forgiving boss and he has built friendships across political and philosophical lines.

Ailes befriended MSNBC's Rachel Maddow at a White House Christmas party and contributed a blurb to her book on American military power. Chafets describes a visit to Palm Beach where Ailes attended a party thrown by his pal Ethel Kennedy one day and took his son to Limbaugh's studio the next.

"Somebody said in the book that Roger says he thinks that he's hated, but he's not. He's admired in the TV news business. I think that's largely true," Chafets notes.

Chafets covers how Ailes went from working in production for the daytime gabfest "The Mike Douglas Show" to becoming a political consultant for Richard Nixon and other GOP candidates who eventually reached the White House.

"His journalistic background is manipulating journalists," Chafets says. "All through his political career, starting with Nixon, he saw journalists in the raw. He figured out what makes journalists jump. He figured out what makes journalists flinch. He figured out what makes journalists hungry. He figured out what makes journalists purr like a cat. He's an expert. He also figured out what's hypocritical in American journalism and where the real interests lie. He developed a very strong cynicism about the pretensions of American journalism."

In short, Edward R. Murrow may be on permanent spin cycle in his grave at the ratings victories that Ailes has enjoyed. But Fox News continues to be divisively fascinating. Who'll be most interested in reading what makes Ailes tick: friends or foes?

"I would say it would be my Aunt Betty, because it's dedicated to her," Chafets jokes. "She hates Fox News, by the way. She falls into the foes category."